Azad Arman, an Iraqi Kurd now living in Melbourne, recently spent three months in northern Iraq. A member of the International Socialist Organisation, an affiliate of the Socialist Alliance, Arman spoke to Green Left Weekly's Chris Slee.
The Kurdish area of northern Iraq is controlled by the two main right-wing Kurdish parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Arman explained. These parties have fought wars against each other in the past, but have been at peace since 1998. They each control a distinct geographical area, each with its own parliament and prime minister.
Both the KDP and PUK are collaborating with the US occupiers of Iraq. The PUK and KDP advocate a federal Iraq, of which Kurdistan would remain a part, but with its own parliament. Many Kurdish people want a referendum in which Kurds could vote on the political future of Kurdistan. The US is opposed to this. So are Turkey, Iran and Syria, all of which fear that their own Kurdish minorities would try to follow the Iraqi example.
Arman told GLW that there is a danger of civil war in Kirkuk, the ethnically mixed city situated in the second-largest oil-producing area in Iraq. It is inhabited by Kurds, Arabs and Turkomans. Washington's policy of "divide and rule" has contributed to the ethnic conflict because the US occupiers have used the KDP and PUK against the Arabs and Turkomans.
The government of neighbouring Turkey is claiming that Kirkuk should be part of Turkey, and it trying to win support for this among Kirkuk's Turkoman population. Arab-chauvinist parties also believe that the city should be controlled by Arabs.
Arman said that left-wing groups have played a good role in building solidarity across ethnic lines in Kirkuk.
The resistance
According to Arman, the anti-US resistance has very wide support throughout Iraq. It is not confined to Islamists or former Baath Party supporters, although they are its best-organised components.
Arman believes it is necessary to support those fighting against the occupation, although he is critical of some of their tactics, such as bombings in public places.
While the radical Islamic groups are anti-woman, and some leftists have been murdered by them, Arman argued that "they are not the main enemy. Rather, the US occupation is the main enemy."
Leftists need to be careful not to provoke unnecessary clashes with Islamists, Arman added. The left should defend women's rights, and oppose attacks on these rights by Islamists, but he believes the left in Iraq should organise against capitalism and imperialism, rather than religion.
The left
In the 1950s, Arman explained, the Iraqi Communist Party (ICP) was the biggest party in Iraq. It played a key role in the struggle against British imperialism.
Today, the ICP is much weaker, and it supports the US occupation. It even had a minister in the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council. While it does not have a minister in the new Iraqi puppet government, it still supports the regime.
However, other left groups oppose the ICP's collaboration. The ICP (Central Command) broke away from the ICP in the late 1960s. It produces a weekly paper, Al-Ghad (the Future). It is strongly opposed to the US occupation and expresses support for the armed resistance.
The Worker-Communist Party of Iraq says it is against both the US occupation and the armed resistance. Arman characterised the WCPI as "pacifist". It calls for UN intervention and advocates that the UN control Iraq for six months and then hold an election. Arman argues that the UN is not an alternative to US occupation but "a part of US policy".
Arman is critical of the WCPI for making propaganda against the Islamic religion, which the WCPI describes as "reactionary". He told GLW that "all [the WCPI's] struggle is against religion, rather than the class struggle and struggle against imperialism". Arman argues that this approach alienates people. He said that the party is losing support and has been forced to close some of its offices.
The Communist Union of Iraq is a group which split from the WCPI in 1995-96. It has two newspapers, Azadi (published in Kurdish) and Balagashoia (Arabic), and has offices in Baghdad and Kirkuk. It opposes the US occupation. While it is critical of radical Islam, in its day-to-day work the CUI concentrates on issues such as the gap between rich and poor, unemployment, women's rights and youth rights.
Arman believes that the anti-war movement in Australia and Western world should not just campaign against the US occupation, but also build solidarity with the Iraqi workers' movement, the struggle for women's rights and other progressive struggles.
From Green Left Weekly, July 28, 2004.
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